Plum Blossoms and Camellias
Sakai Hoitsu (1761–1828)
Hanging Scroll with Wooden Storage Box, Ink and color on paper
This exceptional hanging scroll by Sakai Hōitsu depicts slender branches of blossoming plum rising above a cluster of camellias. The plants are concentrated in the lower portion of the composition, while one extraordinarily long plum branch ascends through nearly the entire height of the painting. By combining delicate natural observation with radical asymmetry, Hoitsu creates an image of extraordinary tension and beauty.
The two plants are distinguished through contrasting forms. The plum rises on narrow, leafless branches, its blossoms appearing at measured intervals. Some remain tightly closed, while others open into white petals delicately shaded with pink. The camellia forms a denser cluster near the base, its rounded leaves rendered in deep ink and green pigment, with soft red blossoms emerging among them.
Several camellia leaves were painted while the underlying washes remained moist, allowing darker and lighter tones to spread into one another. This wet-on-wet effect recalls tarashikomi, the mottled wash technique closely associated with Rinpa painting.¹ It gives the foliage depth without sacrificing its simplified decorative form.
Hoitsu’s brushwork varies according to the character of each plant. The principal plum trunk is drawn with a relatively dry brush, leaving broken lines and exposed paper that suggest weathered bark. The younger branches are reduced to single fluid strokes, some so thin that they resemble calligraphy. Against these restrained lines, the camellia leaves appear dense and saturated, creating a deliberate contrast between linear delicacy and chromatic weight.
The greatest achievement of the painting lies in its daring composition. A single, exceptionally long branch rises from the crowded lower section into an immense field of unpainted paper. Near its upper reach, one solitary blossom interrupts the branch’s ascent. Hoitsu asks this slender line and isolated flower to sustain almost the entire upper half of the composition.
The effect is audacious. The branch appears fragile, yet it governs the whole painting. Its upward movement transforms empty paper into winter air, distance, and time, while the single blossom becomes the first visible sign of renewal. The visual balance seems precarious, but every interval has been calculated with extraordinary precision.
The plum and camellia also mark a seasonal transition. Camellias bloom through the colder months, while plum blossoms announce the approach of spring. Their conjunction captures the moment when winter begins to yield to new life. This sensitivity to subtle changes in weather and season was identified by Japan Society as one of the defining qualities of Hoitsu’s art.²
Hoitsu was born into a wealthy and influential samurai family and received a broad artistic education, studying several styles available to painters in Edo. In 1797, he became a Buddhist monk and adopted the priestly name Monsen Kishin.¹ Inspired by Ogata Kōrin, he subsequently played a central role in the revival of Rinpa painting during the late Edo period.
Japan Society’s 2012–13 retrospective, Silver Wind: The Arts of Sakai Hoitsu, emphasized the compositional daring and sumptuous surfaces of his art.² Those qualities are fully present here. Its sumptuousness lies in the concentrated color and moisture of the camellias, while its daring is embodied by the long plum branch extending alone through emptiness.
This radical economy makes the work one of the defining paintings in Time Well Wasted: Five Hundred Years of Japanese Ink Painting. Hoitsu demonstrates that monumentality does not require physical mass or descriptive abundance; it can arise from a single line moving through open space. Observation, decoration, and abstraction are held in perfect balance, transforming a modest seasonal subject into an image of silence, tension, and renewal.
Signed “Hoitsu hitsu” (抱一筆) at lower left and sealed. Accompanied by a wooden storage box inscribed with the artist’s name and the subject, “Plum and Camellia” (梅椿).
Image: 49 × 18 inches (124.5 × 45.7 cm).
Scroll: 81 1/2 × 20 3/8 inches (207 × 51.8 cm).
This work was featured in the special exhibition Time Well Wasted: Five Hundred Years of Japanese Ink Painting, held at Michaan’s Auctions from August 16 to 21, 2026, and is illustrated on page 68-70 of the accompanying book by Jingwei Zeng.
References
- Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Persimmon Tree,” 1816, accession no. 57.156.3.
2. Japan Society, “Silver Wind: The Arts of Sakai Hoitsu (1761–1828),” September 29, 2012–January 6, 2013.
For condition report and additional photos, please contact the Asian Art Department.
